This beachfront Bali-inspired venue is one of the first restaurants to open on Palm Jumeirah’s West Beach.
Dining at the restaurant comes with a free pass to enjoy the venue’s outdoor beach and take a dip in the sea during the winter season.
Koko Bay: What’s the vibe?
The beautifully designed space nails the Bali-inspired theme to a tee, and there’s plenty of corners to take enviable Instagram pictures. Esquire visited midweek – considering some of the surrounding area is still under construction (and the location a little difficult to find on Google Maps) we were surprised to find it pleasantly busy, with socially distant tables.
Koko Bay: How’s the food?
While Koko Bay’s aesthetic smoothly hits the spot for a Bali-inspired restaurant, the menu is akin to trying to wade through a rice paddy in the dark. The 16-page tome offers a head spinning world tour of French, Italian, American, Southeast Asain, Catonese and Japanese food.
(All in the name of good research) Esquire ordered dishes from each of the cuisines, with the Asian-inspired dishes outperforming their Western counterparts in each course.
One can’t help but think it would be a stronger, more compelling sell to cut the menu’s length in half and stick to winning mix of Asian flavours that marry well with the restaurant’s beautifully designed aesthetic.
The licensed venue also has a delightful mixology menu, inspired by (you’ve guessed it) flavours from all over the world.
Koko Bay: The verdict
As the winter season hits, Koko Bay is no doubt going to be a hit with beach trippers, looking for a beautiful spot to whileaway a Friday or Saturday afternoon. It’s worth adding to your list of weekend spots, and during these unusual Covid times, the spacious outdoor beach area and fresh sea breeze offers a safer place to eat out and socialise.
Koko Bay: Where is it?
Located on one of the lesser developed parts of Palm Jumeirah’s West Beach, many of the surrounding lots are still under development. It’s located on the trunk of the Palm, behind the Hotel Conin.
When Esquire visited, the brand new car park wasn’t labelled (the underground entrance is on a one way system, so if you miss it you have to do a small tour of the Palm to get back to it) something we were told would have correct signage soon. Esquire ended up parking on an empty building lot, adjacent to the restaurant.
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